The Funky Flea

This last Saturday was The Pink Cabbage's second biggest event of the year (our holiday open house is #1).  This was the 4th year; it just keeps getting bigger and better every year.  Not only is it fun and socially and financially successful but we also raise a nice chunk of change for The American Cancer Society.  Our shops host the event by offering people to set up as vendors in the back yard and the parking lot and large piece of land next door.  All the vendor fees to rent their space goes to ACS, we donate some from each of our shops, and we have a donation jar at the front desk.  We usually give a check for $1500-2000 every year.  I hadn't had a space during the event in a few years; not since Matt wanted to unload all of his toys and we sat right in the direct sun on a hot day but he made some money.  This year's goal was to recover at least half of our packed two-car garage.  Done!  Three pickup truck loads of stuff priced like garage sale prices (lots of dealers picked from me) went like hotcakes!  I was pretty good on my end, only bringing home yet another handsome man for my household, David, above.  He told me he needed to come home with me.  Wadayagonnado?  Couldn't be rude.

Here's our ad that went into the papers and sent out to our priceless email customer list.  Jody always does a fantastic and tireless job of promoting anything to do with our shop and this is no exception.

Just one of the many other vendors selling their wares.  I didn't take photos so I'm using the few that Jody took.

Me, advertising my Hot Girl Pearls that cool a girl off after being in the freezer for a while-they really work!  It was a little cool that day.  Someone asked me why I was wearing them on a day that was so cool...duh...cute, right?  ADVERTISING.  The day was extra fun for me because our buddy Ron came and we had lunch in lounge chairs in the sun and listened to music and chatted with folks.  He's such good company even on his worst days but this was, I think, his first public event where he didn't know people and was meeting a lot of new people without Glynnis, and he was great company.  Six months.  He's no where out of the woods but I think he's seeing between the trees finally.  

Our Jackie with her shiny new high school grad, John, who helps us with the parking each year.

Our Kim, artist and person extraordinaire.

Karen and Janet, our fab twins.

Great, mellow band, Greasy Hands-really good.

Umm...I'll know her name well soon.  She and her husband are moving into the store next to us that's been empty for a while.  WE CAN'T WAIT.  Their food was great and we miss having somewhere to have handy.  I think the customers are going to love shopping then lunching for a full, fun amusement-park-for-women experience.  A good time was had by all, woohoo!

All inclusive and FREE!!! The Best Eastern Hotel and Tour Service

This little vignette sits right next to the luxurious bed you can stay in for FREE when you come and stay at The Best Eastern Hotel, aka, my house.  Included in your stay is a free tour of our nation's capitol and other historic and groovy sights.  If you are a baseball fan, plan your trip for when the Texas Rangers play the Baltimore Orioles and you will get to visit the beautiful Camden Yards, home of Cal Ripken, Jr.  It is very close to not only the ghetto but also the fabulous Inner Harbor which houses The National Aquarium.  Truly wonderful tourist experiences (and we steer way clear of the ghetto).

Here is the beautiful bed in the private ground floor bedroom.  This area also includes, completely private, a full kitchen, living room, bath, t.v., pool table, and beautiful views of the woods outside.  It also has its own door leading out to a wonderful backyard with undeveloped land, woods, and all the dog poop you can possibly want to scoop!  But the dog who makes that poop is preciously sweet and great security.  Just this area will accommodate five people easily.

The pretty chandelier I made that's in the bedroom.

Sweet ambiant lighting and storage for your items during your stay.

If more room is needed, there is a small guest bedroom on the third floor with this cozy twin bed and another of my creations, a lamp made from an old coffee urn.

Thought the fireplace doesn't work, since it's not a fireplace just a mantel, the room is charming and warm.

And where you won't stay (unless you make us an offer we can't refuse) is our master bedroom.  I'm showing this because I just recently painted it and installed new window treatments.  I call it "Big Sur Post Ranch" style.  Otherwise know as "neutral in preparation for putting it on the market the day Matt graduates from high school".

Another look at my fab find from Wendy Addison, plus a new chair from Jackie at The Pink Cabbage, and a new side table from Jody at The Pink Cabbage.

This is the updated version (6/1/12) moving in the faux antlers with jewelry, hat, and different table.

Yeah, with the high ceilings, it took me four days to paint this mother so I get to post as many photos as I want to of it!

I hope you will consider us for your next vacation plans!!!!  Remember, there is a lot of guilt when you haven't shown your children our nation's capitol and just dumb if you've never seen it yourself or recently!!!!

P.S.  Just two more pics, a new "toy" for the wall in our family room.  This is how people make money on Pinterest; I followed this one all the way to Etsy.  Installed it yesterday and am loving it!

Hobnobbing In NYC

Okay, finally, here's my last post about our trip to NYC for spring break.  I was waiting to unpack my goodies from my "rock star" experience so I could show photos of all, ergo, voila!  Here is the photo of me with none other than WENDY ADDISON at Tinsel Trading Company.  For y'all who aren't in the same art circle as I am and don't know who Wendy is, do yourself a favor and check out her link.  She is one of the first artists that Mary Engelbreit launched through her Home Companion Magazine, so I've been a big fan for a long time.  She walked through behind the counter of the store while I was working with the sales girl and I told the girl I though I had peed my pants a little.  The girl asked if I'd like to meet her and I said...umm...ya!  Wendy was very gracious about meeting me and then offered a photo op.  Oh hale yeah.

Here is one of the little "Wendy's" I got while there.

And finally out and up in my bedroom over the bathroom door where there's a little alcove with a shelf of some of my faves.  (Yes, I have numbers on all the doors in the house)

This is also another "Wendy" I got while at Tinsel Trading Co., the, umm, "vest" of lightweight metal in a light grey finish.  It took a little finessing to get it to fit on my favorite bust but I did it.  You can see more detail of it if you click on the photo and make it bigger; it's cool.  And Tinsel is a huge candy store for artists, love going there whenever we're in town. 

Cleaning Up

Sexy singing voice...aaaaaaat laaaaast...for the second time in a week I've had the energy and wherewithal to tackle my, in swanky language, studio.  The extra bedroom is dedicated to holding the art supplies and waiting for me to be disciplined enough to get off the computer and go in and make things.  Recently, I've had the extra incentive to create art for fundraisers for friends in need.  Wading through the...well, you'll see...to make things has gotten irritating enough to finally do something about it.

This one of those adhesive plastic signs I had made for the studio window a few years ago.  Because of the sun, the sign has gotten chippy, pieces have fallen off, dots missing, but I can't get it off.  The instructions said to use alcohol but, no matter how much I drink, it won't come off.  Just KIDDING.  It's the least of my problems in there.

Here's the mess.  This a grand improvement from several days ago.  This is just one side of the room; the other three sides look better.

In the meantime I pulled this nugget out from behind some things; not hidden but not displayed the way it deserves.  This antique soap dish was given to me by my sister, Valori, and her then-husband, Greg.  They totally got me.  I was all of 14 and it was 1972.  I loved antiques starting at a young age.  This is a perfect, all three pieces, English soap dish.  The brand?  Bristol.  The street we grew up on.  I used it for years but over time I've realized it's just too precious to take the chance, so it's eye candy.  A pretty to make me smile; so simple yet so much love inside it.

My inheritance

Okay y'all read this whole post before you hysterically change this window to Southwest.com and book a ticket to BWI.  And don't grab the phone just yet either.  I'm not sharing.  Get over it.

As you may or may not have read, my dear friend, Carolyn, passed away earlier this month.  Above are Carolyn, me, one of Carolyn's beautifully transformed mannequins, and Fab Janine.   Yeah, it's a good one of us all.  Janine, Woody, and I had gone to one of Carolyn's open houses at the Howard County Art Center.  Her mannequin was in the main gallery that night.  She was pretty sick here; chemo and dialysis, but nothing stopped her.  In fact, it was her last real fun outing that the three of us made together a couple of years ago, right before she was diagnosed with stomach cancer and kidney failure.  I accidentally parked too far away from the Mexican restaurant that was her favorite that I had introduced her to in Silver Spring.  It was a cool but pretty windy day and she was complaining constantly.  There had been a little wolf-crying over the years but Janine and I (rolling our eyes) did our best to make it easier for her as she said she hadn't been feeling well (well, no kidding in hindsight).  In fact, I walked to get the car and drove to pick them up after we ate so she wouldn't have to walk back (or did I just not get us lost on the way back to the car?).  We did have fun that day besides that part.  There's a little guilt that will probably never leave since she was, quite indeed, ill.  As I mentioned previously, I hadn't spent much time with her in the last few months because of all the other fucking shit (pardon meeeee) going on. As these things go, she was not bad off until the end and then it was fast.  Too fast for almost none of her friends to get to see her. So the funeral was the week we went to NYC for spring break.  It was over a week after she passed.  I had no idea I would miss it until it was too late and we were locked into our NY plans.  Yeah, I could have sent the guys and met them two days later but I knew she wouldn't want that-I did-but, trust me, there's no sense in arguing with her.  From my friends who did go...AND THIS MIGHT BE WHERE YOU WANT TO READ IF THIS HAS BEEN TOO LONG OF A POST SO FAR..., I learned that her grandson, D'angelo, who she raised and helped him raise his kids, said that when a person went to Carolyn's home, they were sure to get two things-a hot meal and the cold truth.  He got quite a laugh.  I have so many stories.  One was being caught in a disagreement of what I should do with a rug (they weren't disagreeing, they were each just telling me to do something different) between my newly-widowed mother and Carolyn.  Oh Lord, who do I side with?  I think I ended up running to the bathroom (this was at Oella Mill) and throwing up.  She was a loving force.  And so loved.  She brought big ol' Paul Wolfgang to his knees at least once a week (okay, he's a teddy bear anyway, but he would have given up his magic wand for her).  Anyway, I felt so honored that she thought to set aside some things for me.  She told her son, Sean, and D'angelo what to give me.  I heard it was more but things got confused and I don't care; I have pieces with her DNA on them.

 Heirlooms are the only material things that I truly love.  The things that people who I loved and/or ancestors I never met are all I have of them; it's a tangible piece of them.  What she left me were the molds that she used to make jewelry.  I have several of her art pieces that I purchased from her over the years but these are what she wanted for me.  Molds she made with her own hands...her hands.   

The ones in the top photo are my favorites-the faces.  I love all of them, of course.  The ones above look like something you would find in the pyramids in Egypt.  I have them, as you can see by the "boot picture" in a drawer (not a closed drawer, a drawer used as an open box type a deal) in my guest room all in one place.  There are many.  And then there were a couple of neat silver molds and also the (if you look close enough) some Creepy Crawler molds.  Oh, Justin and his friend, Luke, would spend hours and hours making those.  I still have the machine.  Anyway, I put them in the boot with the other molds and it made me think of Woody in Toy Story..."I've got a snake in my boot!".  Laugh or cry or...snort (wink, wink to someone below)...more on that later.  

Oh, P.S.  Something they mentioned at the funeral was how tickled Carolyn was by all the attention she got when she worked with me on an Historic Ellicott City show house one year.  She painted the floor.  By hand.  On her hands and knees (at 70?-no one ever knew her age until she passed).  And it was beautiful.  I tried to find the photos of that house in this blog archives but couldn't.  I'm going to hunt them down and post them.  It was a beautiful space; two small rooms and a very small balcony that she also painted.  The then-governer's wife loved it, but more importantly, we loved it.  And I loved her, I always will.